Channel catfish farming in the US southeastern states is one of America's most important aquaculture industries, with welfare considerations around stocking density, disease management, and slaughter practices.
Catfish in pond aquaculture face periodic acute welfare crises from oxygen depletion events that can kill thousands of fish through asphyxiation if not managed promptly. Chronic disease, particularly ESC, causes ongoing infection and tissue damage in affected populations. The slaughter process involves electrical stunning that, when properly applied, renders fish unconscious rapidly — but improper stunning parameters leave fish conscious during subsequent processing. Catfish transport in live haul trucks causes crowding stress and oxygen challenges. The scale of US catfish production means welfare improvements at the standard practices level would affect hundreds of millions of individual fish annually. As evidence of fish sentience has strengthened, the welfare case for improved catfish standards has grown correspondingly.